After the Commanders’ 28-20 road loss to the Rams in Week 15, head coach Ron Rivera was asked why he decided to sit quarterback Sam Howell during the fourth quarter.
“He’s our starting quarterback,” Rivera said. Rivera noted that removing Howell was more about protecting him than benching him.
Yet Howell was actually only sacked once against the Rams, and he was noticeably not getting beaten up as he has in many other games. In fact, Howell has been sacked at least three times in 12 of his 14 games this season.
Also clear is this was not a knee-jerk decision or an overreaction by Rivera. Howell’s play has bottomed out in the last month.
Coming into the Rams game, Howell had been sacked 17 times in the previous five games. In his last three games before Sunday, Howell had disappointingly offered up a pick-six against the Giants, Cowboys and Dolphins.
In four games this season, Howell has registered a passer rating of over 100 (Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Seattle). However, in his last four contests, Howell has not only not reached a passer rating of 100, he has recorded some of his worst passer ratings of the season:
- Vs. Giants — 62.8
- Vs. Dallas — 74.1
- Vs. Miami — 50.5
- Vs. Rams — 50.3
Of particular note, Howell’s last two games are surpassed only by the Buffalo game in how bad his performance was.
Against the Rams, his interception early in the fourth quarter was the last straw. On the play, Howell had both Terry McLaurin and Antonio Gibson wide-open.
What made it even worse was that it was a first-down play. Yet, there was Howell staring down McLaurin well after his route, then forcing it to him, and it was intercepted. The play easily could have gained five to 10 yards (on first down, no less) if Howell simply had taken what was open.
Howell has been pressing, and as a result, he is not seeing the field well. And that is the real reason Howell was pulled for Brissett against the Rams.
